Pilot presumed dead has been found alive 4 years later, family says

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

MINNESOTA – Four years ago, a missionary pilot from Minnesota disappeared during a flight from South Africa to Mali and was never heard from again.

Though no wreckage of the Beechcraft 1900C was ever found, South African authorities declared two months later that Jerry Krause had crashed and died.

Now his family says new evidence has caused the South African government to remove their official report and that Krause is actually alive and has been seen, CBS Minnesota reports.

The family even says the US government knows Krause’s whereabouts but the Department of Defense doesn’t have authorization to act on the information. According to the family’s “Find Jerry” Facebook page, their understanding is that President Trump or Vice President Pence would need to approve any rescue attempt.

The family is asking people to contact their senators and representatives. As for the new evidence, “although we have sought to learn what [it] is, we have been denied access to it,” per the Facebook post.

The family claims Krause was kidnapped while making the flight on April 7, 2013, but no group has claimed responsibility. Per the family, “All contact was lost on his approach to Sao Tome, a small island off the coast of Africa” where he was headed to re-fuel.